Low-tech habitat restoration techniques, including Stage 0 treatments, are increasingly applied but often lack robust evaluation of their effects. In 2018, one kilometer of the South Fork McKenzie (SFMK) River, OR was modified to the Stage 0 condition for the benefit of ESA-listed Chinook by raising the incised channel to...
The Olympia oyster is a foundation species that increases habitat structure for associate species in estuarine systems of the Pacific Coast of North America (Kimbro & Grosholz, 2006). This oyster provides ecosystem services in the form of water filtration (zu Ermgassen et al., 2013), habitat for commercially valuable species such...
Microplastics are widely distributed in aquatic environments. The term ‘microplastics’ encompasses a wide array of particles with unique polymer constituents, morphologies, and sources, such as automobile tire tread. Tire wear particles (TWP) can end up in waterways near densely populated municipalities, where they can interact with aquatic biota. Studying the...
Understanding the ecological role of Pacific oyster aquaculture (Crassostrea gigas) and eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) as important habitats in US Pacific Northwest estuaries is critical for management and regulatory decisions. The oyster aquaculture industry is currently restricted by regulations concerning impacts of their activities on Z. marina. This seagrass is...
Natural resource management and policy is ideally informed by the best available science. Natural resource researchers ideally participate in broader impacts activities to extend the reach of their best available research. However, there are many cultural, institutional, and practical barriers to participating in broader impact activities and to incorporating science...
Habitat restoration projects are vital for recovering ecosystems, but they can be expensive. One way to help justify the price tag is to value the economic benefits provided by the restored habitat. The issue is that many ecosystem services and the flow of benefits they produce are complex, requiring careful...
The goal of this thesis is to advance the methodology and thought regarding the transferability of ecological estimates of ecosystem services. Conceptually and in practice, ecological estimate transfer parallels economic benefit transfer in ecosystem services research and policy, yet the literature for benefit transfer predates ecological estimate transfer by several...
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the international development sector through various external and internal stressors. Community engagement practices that international non-governmental organizations and non-profits conducted were disrupted by the pandemic, and communities were faced additional challenges when international development workers were required to socially distance or relocate at the onset of...
It is not unusual to see stranded or washed-up marine animals and birds along any
coastline. Various networks nationwide exist to report marine mammals and sea birds,
yet, we have been unable to find a network in Oregon or nationally to report other
stranded marine animals, namely fish, cephalopods, and...
As the global demand for seafood increases each year, there is a growing need to expand sustainable aquaculture in the interests of food security and resilience of coastal communities. Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas, are grown in West coast estuaries - where cultures often overlap with the federally protected native eelgrass,...
The commercial Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) fishery is Oregon’s largest trap-based fishery. Each year, crab vessels discard millions of pounds of bait, including squid, razor clams, and sardines, into the near-coastal ocean. Although the fishery season typically runs from December 1st through August 14th, most landings occur within the first...
The commercial groundfish fishing industry and groundfish research have a long concurrent history of activity on the Oregon continental margin. Within the non-whiting groundfish fishery, the target species are primarily flatfishes, sablefish, lingcod, and rockfishes, though landings of each have fluctuated over time. Recent work shows that over the past...
The central Oregon coast was selected as an ideal site for wave energy
development and establishment of the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC). PMEC will consist of two nearshore sites, one north (NETS) and one south (SETS) of the Yaquina River, Oregon. Our study aims to assess how the development...
Informal higher education science learning programs are increasingly being used as a tool to build scientific research capacity. However, there is low understanding of the impact that these programs on their target audiences, which is important to future capacity building efforts and program design. The purpose of this research project...
Small-scale fisheries around the world are increasingly facing pressures from a range of environmental, economic, and social sources. In order to sustain the societal benefits of small-scale fisheries, it is imperative to understand how fishing communities adapt to disturbances. Fishermen often catch multiple different species as an adaptation technique because...
Micro-plankton are a crucial component of pelagic food webs, responding rapidly to environmental changes, and providing a first step in the acquisition and transfer of nutrients to life in the ocean. In addition to the uptake of carbon, phytoplankton provide essential fatty acids (FAs) that can limit the growth of...
Because of their convenience and durability, single-use plastic items have become a ubiquitous part of society since the 1930s. The overuse of these convenient and durable plastic items has created a social and environmental problem that plagues our oceans and waterways. While the issue is overwhelming and daunting, it is...
Coastal communities throughout the US West Coast and elsewhere are facing the daunting task of preparing for climate change impacts, particularly the hazards from increased flooding and erosion. With sea-level rise, changing storminess patterns, and possible changes to the frequency and severity of major El Niño events, communities are already...
Funding agencies, specifically the National Science Foundation (NSF), are placing particular emphasis on the societal relevance and broader applications of scientific research, otherwise known as Broader Impacts (BIs). Scientists are required to address the BIs merit review criterion in their research proposals or they will not get funded. However, many...
As competing uses of our coastlines increase, natural resource agencies are employing marine spatial planning (MSP) to designate areas for different uses or activities in order to reduce conflicts while achieving ecological, economic and social objectives. A central challenge of implementing MSP is development of a rigorous approach for analyzing...